Beach Lifeguard Contract Renewed
The beach lifeguard service for Hastings and St Leonards will continue to be provided by the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) for the next three summers. Hastings Borough Council’s cabinet agreed at its meeting last week to renew the Institution’s contract to man three lifeguard stations – Pelham, the pier, and by the Azur Marina Pavilion – for this period after a performance review covering the previous three years.
RNLI Lifeguards Pelham Beach Hastings July 2020
PICTURE: KT Bruce
The 2021 season will start on Saturday 29th May (the Spring bank holiday weekend). All three stations will have lifeguards daily during the following week to Sunday 6th June 2021 to cover the bank holiday and school half-term break, then operate at weekends only until the start of peak season, Saturday 10th July. From then they will operate seven days a week until Sunday 5th September, reverting back to weekend cover for the rest of the month.
Between 2000 and 2016 the lifeguarding service was provided ‘in house’ by the council. However, the RNLI took over for a one-year trial period in 2017, which was then renewed for a further three years. The council reimburses the actual wage bill for the time that the lifeguards spend patrolling, but the RNLI undertakes all training, provides the safety equipment and manages the service in exchange for being permitted to fundraise and promote the Institution on the beach during the season.
RNLI Lifeguards Pelham Beach Hastings July 2020
PICTURE: KT Bruce
Kevin Boorman, the council’s marketing manager, told the cabinet: “The RNLI, the national charity dedicated to lifesaving at sea, is a ‘best practice’ operator providing the ‘gold standard’ of lifeguarding, and manages beach lifeguarding services for many local authorities around the country. They can provide a better value service than we could on a like-for-like basis, and their lifeguards have access to a more focussed ‘saving lives at sea’ management support organisation than we are able to provide.”
The council cabinet resolved unanimously that the contract should be renewed without any competitive tendering process.
The RNLI also operates the lifeguarding service at Camber Sands and Bexhill on behalf of Rother District Council.
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